Introduction

Co-authored by the volume’s editors, the introduction develops a conceptual framework for thinking about the intersection of translation and activism at the global level. We present four paradigms for translational activism introduced in this volume’s chapters: the translator as witness-bearer, as voice-giver, as vernacular mediator, and as revolutionary. Having introduced how our contributors understand the intersection of translation and activism, we then elaborate on our own conception of transnational activism, which operates in what Walter Benjamin terms Jetztzeit, the time of the now.